Look who's here...Maggie! Maggie belonged to my parents for about nine years. Health matters interfered with their ability to care for her, and, while it was always my intention to take her if something like that occurred, the timing of it was way off on the day they decided they needed to let her go. (Months of caring for my parents and Sophie, spending nights at the regular hospital and days at the vet hospital, pretty much overwhelmed me and wore me down for a while.) Fortunately, Maggie had an angel who came and got her and took her home and cared for her for over a year. After my parents got better and after some of the anguish of losing Sophie lessened, I started thinking about Maggie. I knew I couldn't really think about bringing home another dog without taking Maggie in, so I did!

Maggie's angel was also her breeder, and she gave Maggie the best care you could imagine. Maggie's time away, living with about eight other dachshunds, taught Maggie a lot of dog skills she didn't really have. I think it made her transition to living here easier for her and us. She used to be overwhelmed by different situations, including being away from home, other dogs and wide open spaces. Now, she's only a little scared by Teddy when he tries to initiate play (he is ten times her size), but she patrols the backyard like a pro, she learned all about doggie doors and using ramps while she was away, and she even dropped a few pounds while she was gone. She has been here just over a week, and she has mastered going up and down stairs (but don't get in her way, as she develops a lot of momentum in both directions), and she totally enjoyed the Saturday morning car ride routine.

And just as importantly, my parents are very happy to be able to visit Maggie again.

I can't thank Maggie's breeder enough for being so kind and generous with her care of Maggie. She really, really loves her dogs, and we were so lucky to have her help.

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post (sorry!), but I have been busy with all kinds of things. One thing I've been trying to do is bring some order to the room I use as my studio. In the process, I came across an "illumination" that I got at an arts festival years ago, long before I started participating in festivals. I liked it so much, I framed it and hung it up in my studio. It's a take on illuminated manuscripts created by monks when they had to record scripture by hand. They would go way beyond the painstaking task of just writing page after page; they would also decorate the pages with illustrations related to the text they were copying. The most famous example of an illuminated manuscript, I believe, is the Book of Kells, located at Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland. We made a point of seeing the Book of Kells several years ago when we were in Ireland, and it was lovely. If you visit, you can only see two pages at a time. By that, I mean that the book is open in a display case, and every day, someone turns a page to display for that day. So, if you visit on Monday, then return on Thursday, you will see different pages. Anyway...my little discovery was a prayer for animals by Albert Schweitzer, which someone reproduced in calligraphy, then added charming little watercolor illustrations. It even has a gold-leaf looking "H" at the beginning. I don't know why I stashed it away and left it for so long, but I'm glad I found it, and I thought I would share it with you. I only wish that I had taken the picture of it before I framed it, because the reflection on the glass required me to take the photo at weird angle. I hope you like it: